October 30, 2012

Yes. My writings on this blog are a bit random. Maybe I can get into the rhythm again? Perhaps not (my moods to blame!). Yea! Someday.

I am weird.

For now, let´s see what brings me here this time ;)

My daughter´s school is having a Halloween party this week and I committed myself to make something for the bake sale. To be sincere, this is our first Halloween party while living in Finland and I had no clue of what people eat there. The only thing I was sure is that there would be tons of cupcakes and tray bakes (bringing more’d be definitely boring!).

I decided for size-wise mini cheesecakes. No fuzz for cutting slices and just perfect to carry easily to the party.

BUT IT IS HALLOWEEN! Hello?

hmm… the decoration! Oh gosh, cupcakes are so much nicer to decorate with spooky touches! After brainstorming (uh, you certainly don’t want to see me doing that. Hubs says I have lightning clouds on top of my head. Every time) I came to an idea when I thought about the bilberry sauce that goes with the cheesecakes. Hmmm… yummy blood clots (eeeek)… topped with eyeballs. Just enough creepy!

Finely crush the biscuits in a strong freezer plastic bag. Add the melted butter to the biscuit crumbs and “knead” until well combined. Note that you can use the plastic as a mixing vessel (no dirty dishes yet!). Alternatively, use a food processor to crush the biscuits and mix the butter.

Divide the crust mixture evenly among cases pressing firmly down with your finger or the back of a spoon. Set the pans aside while making the filling.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer until it gets smooth and creamy. Don´t overdo it otherwise you will incorporate too much air into the mixture and it will “puff” in the oven. Add the eggs and beat until combined. Add lemon juice and cream and mix again.

Pour the filling evenly among cases.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before storing in the fridge.

Cheesecakes are ready to serve when they are completely set and cold.

Making the “eyes”:

Simply draw/paint the white candy balls with the edible pens to depict eyes (green/blue for the iris and red for the arteries/veins) . For the pupil I used a tiny ball made with black marzipan, mostly because my black edible pen ended (*lol*)

Horrific? Eye popping! (yuck)

Before taking the cheesecakes to the school I added about one teaspoon of bilberry jam to each cheesecake and decorated with one toffee “eye”.

Happy Halloween!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

October 25, 2010

Some years ago I tried this cheesecake in a potluck lunch with friends. It was just delicious and the idea of that cheesecake stayed in my mind.

The lady who baked it and I became very good friends. I value her friendship a lot and we try to keep in touch whenever it is possible (she is not living in Finland at this moment).

Anyways.. I was thinking about making some sort of cake to celebrate my wedding anniversary and I wanted to try something different this time. Talking this and that with my friend “M” , suddenly her cheesecake came to my mind and I had (HAD) to ask her for the recipe ^_^.

And lovely as she is, she promptly sent it to me! =)

“M” suggested to serve the cheesecake with bilberry/blueberry jam. Unfortunately we didn’t have it at home and I was too lazy to make some with my frozen blueberries. I served with the jams we had in the fridge. Each from the family could choose what jam they wanted on top.

1 tbsp lemon juice (I used the lemon zest too, even if not mentioned in the original recipe)

Heat oven to 180 °C

If you didn’t brake your biscuits yet, put them inside a strong freezer bag and smash using a rolling pin (or use your hands, a meat hammer.. think about something that bothers you and release the anger on those biscuits! ^_^)

Mix the crumbs, butter and milk. Press onto bottom of 18 cm springform pan, line based with greaseproof paper.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar until well blended. Add eggs and the rest of the ingredients. Pour over crust.

Bake for about 40 min until slightly golden or center is set.

Refrigerate after it cools from the oven. I left it inside the pan for the night in the fridge.

To serve, remove the rim of the pan by running a knife around the rim (I used a wooden knife because I didn’t want to damage my pan). Remove the rim carefully and “slide” the cake to the serving plate.

Slice and top with fresh fruits or jam and serve.

My notes about the recipe:

The cheesecake was very good and very easy to make (like “M” said!), perhaps too big for our small family. I will try to half the recipe next time and see how it comes out.

I prefer a more “tangy” taste for a cheesecake and would add more lemon juice ( update: reading about the subject I figured out to use sour cream instead. Should definitely bake another to compare! :P). Anyways, I fixed it by eating my slice with a big dollop of my homemade apple-lemon jam (and cherry jam the next day). ^_^

My girls got disappointed they couldn’t decorate a “normal” cake for the wedding anniversary so I allowed them to use some sprinkles…